A/N: I'm still here, I swear! And I know I sound like a broken record, but I really hate the month of May for reasons that have nothing to so with anything Harry Potter related. The first two weeks of June are going to be equally crazy but I have a solid outline for finishing this story (believe it or not, there isn't a ton left), and I'm determined to keep up with my writing. Thank you to those of you reading and commenting!

Harry was having a very nice dream. Ginny was pressed against him and her hands were touching all the right places. He buried his face against her neck and kissed languidly, and then

moved his lips to hers for more purposeful attention. Her hands moved more firmly and Harry's hips bucked.

"Keep doing that and I'm definitely going to come," he mumbled. "I'm going to come now. Come . . . now."

Harry's eyes flew open with a start and he grabbed wildly at Ginny to keep them both from tumbling off the sofa. She startled, still half asleep, and gave him a bleary look.

"Whass wrong?" she mumbled. "Is everything . . . oh." She swallowed, and then carefully removed her hand from the front of Harry's jeans, while keeping her eyes trained on the silvery cheetah that was standing patiently next to the sofa. "He can't see us, right?"

Obviously understanding that his message hadn't been received, a moment later, Bill's Patronus spoke again.

Good news, Harry. I didn't have to be at work long after all. If you're free, why don't you and Ginny come now?

Even though Ginny's brother's voice was one of the least arousing things Harry could imagine, his words conjured up the last vestiges of Harry's dream anyway. The Patronus faded away and Harry moved Ginny's hand back to where it had been. "I want to continue this later," he said. "And not just in my dream." He moved their hands together for a moment before slowly disentangling himself from her and standing up. Ginny looked interested.

"You were dreaming about it, just now?" She gave him a teasing grin. "I was actually having a nice nap, what my hand was doing notwithstanding." She fiddled idly with the front of his jeans. "We could keep Bill waiting, you know."

"Tempting as that is, he'd know immediately why we were late and I think I've pushed his generosity at that issue as much as I dare. Besides," he shrugged. "He knows where we are and I don't want to answer those sorts of questions about what exactly we were doing here." He didn't say that even if they'd not had Bill and Fleur waiting for them, he doubted he would have felt comfortable doing more than napping here; Ginny knew that already. Instead, he smirked.

"We'll just have to be obviously eager to get the conversation with Bill over with so they know we really just want to go somewhere and have sex." He held her hand in place. "Keep playing with my belt buckle like that while we're at Shell Cottage and I bet Fleur sends us up to the guest room and sets the silencing charms herself."

Ginny shuddered. "I'm fine having sex at the Burrow, but I don't think we're ready for Shell Cottage. I suspect even the walls would start giving us pointers."

"It'll be something to aspire to then," said Harry. He held out his arm. "Want to take me side-along?"

Ginny watched Harry carefully as he greeted her brother and Fleur and then began talking to Bill about the wards at Godric's Hollow. He'd really seemed okay about the vision they'd seen of his parents but Ginny knew it was still on his mind, even if just as a comforting thought he could add to his knowledge about them. He looked up and caught her eye and a slow smile spread across his face as if he knew what she was thinking. Which he likely did, of course.

"Soon," he mouthed at her before turning back to Bill. "So you think Dodge was lying then?"

"Lying if we want to be suspicious of his motives, but possibly just poorly informed. There's no way your signing the letter could have improved upon the blood wards already on the house. They got into the garden because that witch they were with had access, but her access didn't extend to the structure and there's no way they could have gotten inside."

Harry nodded. "That's what I thought." His shoulders relaxed. "I should have brought the note for you to look at but we didn't think we'd see you today. I know there isn't a compulsion charm on it but maybe something else is going on."

"Something else is going on." Bill leaned forward. "You wanted to talk about the newsletter, I assume?" He put another copy on the table. By the way the parchment lay flat Ginny could tell Bill had read it a number of times.

Harry obviously did too; he touched the corner of the page gingerly with his finger. "It's not just Dodge trying to drum up more readers for this rubbish?" By the timbre in his voice, Ginny knew he was more concerned about the publicity than he was trying to let on. She stifled a spark of anger that even after all this time, Harry was still a story for some. Her hand found his, and squeezed. Harry squeezed back before he leaned in to listen to her brother.

"It's that too," Bill agreed. "But this here - suggestions of 'residual magic' and the fact that those wizards in the garden obviously are interested in something - that's what I'm wondering about. It feels like there's someone who knows more than we realize about the place. I'm not convinced it's just Dodge puffing about. And now that there's renewed interest in the house, you can't be too careful." Bill's tone was light, but by the crease in Harry's brow, Ginny knew her brother's words had penetrated.

"You think there's something in the house Dodge wants. And someone else may know about it." Harry's words weren't a question. Bill gave him a piercing look.

"Have the Aurors taken a recent look about the place? This is really their jurisdiction. Cursebreakers can help with the wards, but if Dark wizards are poking about and trying to start trouble, Gawain should know."

"I'm talking to him on Monday." He hesitated, and Ginny could tell the moment he made up his mind to say more. "I've been holding back from getting the Aurors formally involved but I think it's time. At the least I won't have to miss work to go to the house." He nodded, almost to himself, relieved to have at least that decision made. "What do you think Dodge might want?" he asked. Ginny was pretty sure only she heard the forced casualness in his tone. Bill shrugged.

"I'm not sure. And you're right; it might just be Dodge trying to drum up more stories for his newsletter. Have you noticed anything unusual when you've been there? Anything that might be of interest to any former Death Eaters?"

Harry startled. "Maybe . . ." he said slowly. "I'm not sure." He turned his cup of tea in his hands. "Dodge wants me to make a list of everything in the house I want to keep; maybe I should get started on that?"

Something had happened; Harry didn't need to ask Bill about what to do with the list. He patted his pockets. "I . . . I didn't bring it; I thought I did."

This was also a lie. Ginny knew Harry had the list with him, had planned to start working on it that morning, before they'd been sidetracked by the vision of Lily and James arguing. She fiddled with her own tea and waited.

"I have to talk to Gawain. I don't know if he's aware of what the newsletter said, and since it's apparently attracting Death Eaters now, the Aurors need to be involved." Harry stood up. "I'll let you know what I find out Monday but now I think I want to look over my notes." He shook Bill's hand. "Thank you for sending me the newsletter."

Bill clapped Harry on the back. "I hope it's a lot of nothing." He gave Ginny a hug. "We'll see you both Monday night, won't we? For Charlie's birthday? Or is there a match?"

Ginny shook her head. "We're off until after the New Year," she said. "Other than some practices." It was something both she and Harry had been especially looking forward to, time to be together, alone. Although it now appeared that Harry might be more preoccupied with work than they planned, but even that was okay. Getting things sorted at Godric's Hollow was too important. And not only for Harry. She was tied up in whatever was happening there now too.

They Floo'ed back to Harry's flat and by the time Ginny stepped out of the fireplace a minute after Harry he was already in the kitchen making tea. She joined him there, silently gathering the mugs and making up a plate of biscuits while he tapped the kettle and then added the leaves when the water boiled.

They were seated together on the sofa before Harry spoke.

"I have to tell Robards." He didn't need to explain what he meant.

Ginny nodded. "How much do you have to tell him?"

Harry stared at her. "What do you mean? You heard Bill; even if it's Dodge exaggerating, he must have gotten the idea somewhere. We need to find out what the Death Eaters know." He picked up his tea and blew on it even though he'd already used a charm to keep it from being too hot.

"Maybe they just suspect, or hope there's something there," Ginny pointed out. Harry grimaced.

"That might be even worse." His mug had a small chip in it and Harry brushed his thumb over it idly. "Reparo won't work for this, will it? Since I don't know where the broken piece is?" He held the mug out to her.

Ginny looked for a moment and then shook her head. "There's a spell to build up the broken bit and fill in the gap though." She held out her wand. "It's a variation of what we used to rebuild parts of Hogwarts, actually. Reficiacado." The lip of the mug looked suddenly softer and Ginny nudged it with her wand to remold the edge. "Give it a few seconds to solidify again before you drink from that side."

Harry turned the mug in his hands. "I didn't realize Reficio could be used on smaller things; thank you." He took a careful sip and nodded. "Good as new." He put the mug back on the table. "It's more dangerous if the Death Eaters only suspect there's something in the house they want because they don't know what they're looking for."

"So they get reckless trying to find it."

Harry nodded. "I know they can't get into the house, but that doesn't mean they're going to stop trying." His lips tightened. "Maybe I shouldn't use the wands anymore. I could put them in Gringotts or something."

Ginny wasn't surprised at the way Harry's thoughts had jumped; she herself had been thinking about what kind of Dark remnants might still be in the Potter house, and the wands were the most obvious possibility. She stifled the urge to reassure with empty platitudes.

"Do you think there's a way to test them?"

"Probably," Harry shrugged and drank his tea. Giny waited, and after a few moments Harry sighed and put his mug on the table. "I don't know the particulars of the charm. I'd have to take them out of the house or bring someone in. And I'd need to reveal . . . what they do." He shrugged again. "Maybe the interest will die down."

Ginny highly doubted that but she didn't say so. Harry ran his hand through his hair.

"It would be irresponsible of me not to tell Robards what I know. I just . . . I can't believe they're dangerous, or Dark." He held up his hands. "I know, I know; I'm not thinking like an Auror right now. You don't have to tell me." He went back to focusing on his tea.

"I wasn't going to," said Ginny calmly. "I've seen what the wands can do, and I can't believe they're cursed either." She took his hand. "I want to believe your parents charmed them as much as you do. But . . "

"But we shouldn't trust a magical object that can think for itself until we know where it keeps its brain," finished Harry. "And I need the Aurors to help me do that." He squeezed her hand. "If the only safe thing is to give them up, or put them in Gringotts protected by wards, that's what I'll do." He spoke firmly.

"Let's cross that bridge after you meet with Robards." Ginny ran her thumb across the back of Harry's hand.

It worked; he shivered and some of the tension left his shoulders. "Yeah," he said. There was a new timbre in his voice. He turned sideways on the sofa and leaned in. "Yeah."

It was nearly dark by the time Harry apparated to the Burrow; his stomach was already in knots after his conversation with Gawain and the Floo felt like a riskier option even in weather this frigid. The snow swirled around him but he barely noticed the cold, his mind consumed with darker thoughts.

Despite what he'd told Ginny two days ago,, he did not want to give up his parents' wands.

The meeting with Gawain had been equal parts helpfully illuminating and worrying. The man was Head Auror for a reason; the few things he was unable to deduce on his own or from formal investigation arrived through a carefully placed network of spies, the extent of which Harry was only beginning to understand. He'd accepted Harry's explanation that he'd like the Aurors to help at the Godric's Hollow house without question and then told him that he'd already suspected the place harbored remnants of Dark Magic.

"It's not just rumors and wishful thinking by former Death Eaters, unfortunately," he'd told Harry. And then he'd dropped the Bludger that what might be of interest to the Death Eaters was a Horcrux.

"You told Voldemort there weren't any more, right before you killed him," Robards had explained. "It was only a matter of time before someone tried to figure out what that meant."

But he didn't know how far along that someone - or more likely, several someones - had gotten in making one, or when. And while he was as confident as Bill Weasley that no one had gotten into the house, he was nearly equally certain that those interested in making a Horcrux wouldn't stop trying until they succeeded in getting what they wanted - or were captured. And then he'd asked Harry if he'd seen anything in the house that might be of interest to someone who wanted to make one of those Dark objects of their own.

Harry had lied. He'd said no, he couldn't think of anything that might interest a wizard intent on splitting his soul, and faked a coughing fit so that his boss wouldn't have the chance to try Legilimency to determine if Harry was telling the truth. Not that he would have ever suspected Harry of lying, of course. He'd told Robards he had to leave, that he was expected at the Burrow to celebrate Charlie Weasley's birthday. That wasn't a lie, at least; Charlie had come all the way from Romania and was going to stay until after Christmas. It had gotten Harry out of the Ministry before Robards or anyone else could learn the truth: they didn't have to worry about a Death Eater trying to make a Horcrux because someone had already made one. Actually, two.

The Burrow loomed suddenly out of the snowy darkness and some of Harry's tension eased, allowing him the push his thoughts away, at least for the immediate present. Through the ice-covered windows he could make out the figures inside and even blurry and indistinct as they were, he knew immediately which one was Ginny. He tripped the last few steps, eager.

As if she'd been expecting him at that exact moment, Ginny pushed open the door before he could even reach for the handle. She pulled him inside and he fell into her arms, heedless of the fact that he was covered in snow.

"Do I want to know why you didn't use the Floo?" she muttered as she helped him out of his wet cloak and began performing drying charms. Her manner was brisk and efficient. Harry frowned.

"I needed to think," he said, which was all the explanation he wanted to give for now, with the entire family here. Thoughts of pulling her aside to tell her more evaporated like the steam rising off his clothing. Indeed, Ginny nodded before hanging his now-dried traveling cloak on a hook.

"We've been waiting for dinner, although another few minutes and we might have started without you, or at least, Fleur was." Ginny gestured at her sister-in-law, who was already sitting at the table.. "As you know, it's considered bad form to keep a pregnant woman waiting to eat, not to mention the rest of us."

Ginny's words were as perfunctory as the way she pulled out a chair and motioned Harry into it. He grimaced. "I'm sorry; next time please don't wait for me," he said quickly to Fleur, feeling a stab of guilt even as Fleur waved off his apology. The need to explain bubbled up but he bit his words back, not ready to share how he knew what hungry pregnant women needed. Or one woman, at least. He leaned in to Ginny instead. "At least I didn't tell her to get her own food, right?" he joked, trying to lighten her mood.

But Ginny rolled her eyes. "You could have sent a message that you were going to be late," she said. "We're all hungry."

That might have been true, but no one else there seemed terribly bothered by their delayed meal. Even Ron was talking amiably with Hermione and Fred while everyone took their seats and Molly began floating dishes and platters across the table. Harry opened his mouth to apologize again but something in Ginny's expression stopped him. "You knew I was with Gawain," he said instead, "and that the meeting might run long." He let a hint of his own annoyance creep into his words. "You should have started without me."

Ginny's lips tightened and Harry felt a swoop in his stomach. "Don't blame this on me," she warned. "We were trying to be considerate. You could have at least done the same." Her voice rose just a bit and Harry saw Ron elbow Hermione.

Now Harry rolled his own eyes. He leaned in and moved his lips close to Ginny's ear. "If you're that hungry, then find something to put in your mouth."

He was pretty sure that only he heard her sharp intake of breath, but the rest of the table certainly couldn't miss Ginny's huff of annoyance or the way she swatted her napkin against the table. "Don't try to brush it off with a joke, Harry. I've asked you before - more than once, even - to send a message when you know you're going to be late." Her lower lip trembled. "After everything, I think you'd remember to let us know you're okay."

"I don't think . . ." began Hermione. Harry waved her off, keeping his expression trained on Ginny.

"Actually, it sounds like my girlfriend is saying I'm the one who didn't think." Harry made his own sound of impatience. "You knew I was with Robards. What exactly do you think was going to happen?"

Ginny threw up her hands in frustration. "Oh, I don't know, he could have whisked you off on some mission and it would have been hours before we knew where you were. Even if you weren't in danger this time, we didn't know that. You can't just pick and choose, Harry. That's not how this works." She gestured at the table. "And now dinner's getting cold."

"There are warming charms," Ron pointed out.

"Not helping, Ron," ground out Harry. He turned back to his girlfriend. "If you have something to say to me about the way I communicate, let's not keep everyone else from enjoying dinner while you explain it to me." He stepped away from the table, and then looked back at her. "Or do I need to send you an owl that I'm going to be upstairs so you don't worry?"

"Now wait a minute, there." Bill rose halfway out of his chair and for a minute Harry worried he'd gone too far. But Fleur put her hand on her husband's arm and pulled him down,

"Let 'arry and Ginny 'andle this," she said. "The bebe is 'ungry."

"So am I, but apparently I'm not going to get to eat until Harry's able to understand exactly how he fucked up." Ginny's eyes blazed. "So this may take a while." She pushed past him without waiting for a response and stomped up the stairs.

Harry wondered if he needed to apologize to everyone else but couldn't bring himself to meet any of their eyes. Instead, he rushed off after his girlfriend.

Ginny was waiting for him in her room, her expression mulish. "I swear, Harry, this is basic relationship stuff here." Her voice carried out of the room until she flicked her wand at the door, slamming it and then setting a silencing charm in quick succession. The shocked chatter that had followed Harry up the stairs abruptly cut off. She stared at him for a long moment, breathing hard. "Do you think they bought it?"

Harry pulled his shirt roughly over his head. "I don't care." He closed the distance between them. "You accused me of fucking up, but to be fair, I haven't had the chance to fuck anything all day." He worked on his belt and zipper. "Get undressed."

Ginny immediately began obliging. "And you told me that if I'm hungry, to find something to put in my mouth." She stepped forward and pushed her hand against his chest until he had to take a step backwards. "Sit down."

Harry perched on the edge of Ginny's bed and she lowered herself to her knees in front of him. "This is only going to be foreplay," she warned. "You're going to finish inside me."

"Of course," said Harry immediately. Ginny's lips twitched.

"Glad to see you know when to agree with me."

Harry grabbed the pillows from the end of the bed and arranged them behind his back to lean against. "I'm just glad I realized what you were doing so quickly." He groaned when Ginny's mouth circled him. "You did get my message, right?"

Ginny nodded and then pulled her mouth away. "I was in the loo, so no one else saw the Patronus. And you weren't actually that late; I wasn't joking when I said Fleur would have started eating otherwise." She returned to her task and Harry settled in to enjoy himself. The good thing about getting a blowjob while seated was that he could play with Ginny's hair, which also allowed him to gently rest his hand on her head and feel the way it moved as she worked on him. He tried to keep from bucking his hips; once he'd gotten so carried away that he'd actually knocked Ginny backwards to the floor. As if reading his thoughts, Ginny grabbed both of his thighs to pull herself closer, and then kept her hands there while her tongue worked even more frantically..

Harry swore. "You'd better get up here soon," he warned. "Fighting with you made me very eager to make up."

Ginny pulled her mouth away. "You'll wait until I'm finished here," she said tartly, and then returned to her task. It was delicious torture, and Harry did his best to disassociate his thoughts from his body's reactions and need to climax. He even reluctantly dragged his thoughts to the meeting with Robards as a distraction, trying to come up with an explanation for what he'd seen in the house. That was all he could manage, though; even something as unsexy as work was no match for his girlfriend's special brand of magic. He leaned forward and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Ginny, please," he groaned. She ignored him for several more excruciatingly wonderful seconds and Harry dug his fingers into his thigh.

Just when he thought he was going to end up climaxing in her mouth after all - or maybe on her chest when she pulled away - she nimbly climbed into his lap and onto him. This time, Harry's groan was of relief. "I'll go down on you next," he promised thickly, rocking Ginny's body against his. "Because there's no way I'm going to last until you get there too."

"Shut up and just fuck me," Ginny said roughly. That undid him completely. He nearly lifted them both off the bed with his last thrust before he came, and even before he'd stopped trembling Ginny dropped her hand down between them, worked frantically for a moment, and then cried out herself.

"You can give me my second orgasm later," she said. Without even getting off his lap she maneuvered until they were both lying down on the bed. Harry's breathing gradually slowed.

"I have things to tell you about the meeting," he said. "Later." He couldn't hold back a yawn.

"Don't you dare fall asleep here," Ginny warned. "I haven't had dinner yet." Her expression softened. "But you can wait to tell me about the meeting."

Harry slowly sat up and began to get dressed. "I'm not sure I understand it all myself," he confessed. He handed Ginny her bra and then looked at the door. "They're going to know we weren't fighting, aren't they? What's your mum going to say? We interrupted Charlie's birthday!"

"No we didn't," Ginny pointed out. "We might not have been there but I can assure you that they went ahead without us." She took down the silencing charms and the faint sounds of "Happy Birthday" wafted up the stairs. "I just hope my mum put aside some food."

"And I can assure you that she did," joked Harry. "And that even though Charlie's only one person, she probably made enough for two or three extra people." Thoughts of Horcruxes floated around the edges of his mind but he shuffled them away. Right now he needed to be a contrite boyfriend - not that anyone downstairs likely bought their ruse in the first place - and an Auror later. He pulled Ginny to him and kissed her hard.

"I'm sorry for being an arse earlier," he said solemnly. "And I promise to make it up to you - again - as soon as possible."

"As soon as I have some dinner, I'm sure I can come up with another reason to be mad at you," said Ginny with a grin.